Central Bobcats Meet Abilene for the 100th Time to Open 2026

SAN ANGELO, TX — One hundred meetings in 108 years of football; that is the definition of a storied rivalry. When the Central Bobcats open the 2026 season against the Abilene High Eagles at San Angelo Stadium on Friday night, another piece of history will be etched into West Texas football.

The Bobcats and Eagles are currently tied in the overall head-to-head at 47-47-5. Whoever wins this matchup will take control of the series going forward. Last season, Abilene High tied the overall record with a win at Shotwell Stadium, 42-21, after Central fell behind late in the second quarter and could not recover.

No. 18-ranked Abilene High should prove to be a tough opponent again for the Bobcats this season. The Eagles finished with a 9-3 overall record last year and won District 1-5A with a perfect 6-0 mark. The Eagles won a bi-district championship against El Paso Bel Air before falling to Denton Ryan in the area round. Abilene High returns five starters on offense and defense this season, including third-year starting quarterback Tristan Beal. This will make the Eagles' offense dangerous. Central needs to find a way to get off the field early and consistently if the Bobcats want to claim victory.

Running back Zey Johnson will play a key role in this ball game. If the Bobcats' offensive line can dominate the line of scrimmage, Johnson should have a field day on Friday. Quarterback Micah Smith needs to take care of the football and find open receivers in key situations, but the outlook is positive for the Bobcats.

Central is fully capable of walking away from San Angelo Stadium with a win. It will not be easy; no rivalry game is, but it is possible. Head coach Mark Smith commented on how the Bobcats can win at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

"Bobcats win if we play smart, physical, punishing football," Smith said. "If we take care of the ball, I think it really comes down to ball security on offense. Last year, we allowed two non-offensive touchdowns in this game. Those things cannot happen. We had a fumble returned for a touchdown, and we had a punt returned for a touchdown as well. So, those kinds of things are just some critical errors."

Without those two errors last year, the Bobcats would have been within seven points in the fourth quarter. While some of that can be attributed to new players on offense, including Micah Smith and Johnson's first starts on varsity, slow starts cannot continue to plague Central. That is one area of focus Mark Smith said the coaching staff will focus on this season.

"We have not opened well the past two seasons," Smith continued. "That's something that's been on my mind all offseason long. How can I tweak preparation? How can we make things a little bit better so the guys perform better? We've consistently gotten better each of the last two seasons from the first game to the last, but how can we start better?"

The Bobcats lost their first two opening matchups in both 2024 and 2025 to Abilene High and Amarillo High before turning things around as the season progressed. The loss to Amarillo High last season was eventually turned into a win when the UIL found that the Sandies played an ineligible player, but the point still stands. How do the Bobcats start better? Smith says coaching and preparation.

"There is something to be said for the first time these guys are out there; if they haven't done it before, it has an effect on them," Smith continued. "We talk about those things. We don't try to fix them after it happens; we try to fix them before. We try to be proactive. Like Lyndon B. Johnson once said, 'The best time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining,' so that's what we are going to do. We are going to be proactive to hit things before they become issues. I think that's some of the magic in coaching. I'm confident that this group will get off to a good start on Friday night."

Kickoff for Friday night's matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. at San Angelo Stadium.